LAKER PIONEER
In the coming weeks, the Lake Minnetonka Conservation District board will consider next steps in the future of night time bowfishing on the lake. The board test drove a program from May through June where anglers that printed special permits could bowfish on select bays at night.
The board is considering extending the period nighttime bowfishing is allowed, extending the practice to other bays or even lake-wide, offering the program again next year or in the future, and downsizing or cancelling it.
Ahead of any decision, the LMCD and other agencies have noted the small effect the program has or would have on Lake Minnetonka’s carp population.
“It puts a small dent in it,” said Director Ben Brandt, Mound’s LMCD representative. “The timelines are strategic with spawning, so hopefully the dent is bigger year over year if we continue it.”
A 2023 study found over 700,000 pounds of common carp combined in just West Arm, Harrisons, and Jennings bays alone, while a bowfishing guide, Curt Cish of Edge Bow Fishing, that participated in the program estimated that thousands of pounds were removed each night during the program, perhaps as much as 6,000 pounds.
The program utilizes carp spawning habits, targeting female species at night when they move to shallower waters along shorelines.
DNR officials align with the LMCD’s stance on the program’s ultimate effectiveness, and point towards other solutions to combat excessive carp populations.
“As far as trying to control carp, and making wonders for Lake Minnetonka– no comment,” said Daryl Ellison, the Minnesota DNR West Metro fisheries supervisor. He added, even when fish are removed from the lake, “Carp and a lot of bottomfeeding fish, they have an ability to, if they drop below a carrying capacity, fill that niche right back up.”
There are a handful of ways to harvest unwanted carp, including box netting — luring carp into traps with food, electrofishing — and personal fishing. The former two options can be expensive or harmful to native species, while the latter is generally ineffective at whittling down large populations.
“If they target them, it can make an impact. But you have to get at the reproduction, otherwise they can go right back in,” said Ellison.
Effectiveness study
A study conducted by the University of Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center (MAISRC) and released this month offers insight into effective common carp management.
The MAISRC partnered with the DNR, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District, a local government unit that works to improve water quality in a large swath of the metro, to evaluate the effectiveness of carp management efforts throughout the state.
Researchers found that the most successful management projects accompanied other initiatives, like reducing phosphorus and other nutrient levels in water bodies and watersheds, and plant management.
Targeted carp management was most effective in shallow bodies already near state water quality standards.
“Based on these results, while bowfishing on its own is unlikely to achieve the population reduction necessary to produce meaningful water quality benefits in a large, highly-connected system like Lake Minnetonka, if regulated properly and conducted safely, nighttime bowfishing can be a recreational opportunity for residents that raises awareness about invasive species and local lake stewardship,” the MCWD said in a statement.
Previous work
From 2014 to 2023, the MCWD conducted a substantial habitat restoration of the Six Mile Creek-Halsted Bay sub-watershed.
The group installed four physical barriers that blocked migrating carp from spawning grounds, increased aquatic vegetation, and in some areas used in-lake alum treatments to improve water quality.
This work, while effective in some areas, proved nuanced and ultimately pushed the MCWD to partner with the aforementioned agencies on a broader assessment of statewide carp management efforts.
On Lake Minnetonka, prior to the special permit this year, bowfishing was allowed only during the day, whereas nighttime bowfishing had been outlawed since 2012, with complaints over invasive lights and noise largely driving that decision.
The Harrisons Bay Association, a residents’ group dedicated to lake improvement, has advocated for the carp’s removal for years. The group funded surveys on its namesake bay to understand the extent of its problem while sponsoring past carp fishing contests.
By Max Kappel